Can You Figure Out the Truth?  Solve Murder Mysteries and Uncover Still Life’s Gritty Past

by Louis Bedigian

“The time difference makes it so that Gus and Vic have totally different approaches to investigate crimes – Vic who relies on modern techniques, and Gus who relies on gut instinct.”

Have you ever had a dead day at work?

Not long ago there lived two brothers who shot the dead for a living.  One was a forensic photographer.  The other was a beta tester for the Resident Evil series.  Although their career paths differed greatly, the two brothers were inseparable (unlike body parts in Shadow of Rome, which can be separated vary easily).

Last month they decided to switch careers for a day to prove once and for all which job was superior.

The photographer ran into trouble when he tried to use his camera to stop a zombie from gnawing on his leg.  A defense like that only works in Fatal Frame.

The tester didn’t do much better.  He startled a few police officers when he pulled out a shotgun, mounted it to his tripod and took aim at the corpse. 

Having realized that it was the individual who made a career what it is, not the career who made the individual, the two brothers decided to call a truce.  They stopped fighting and planned to go back to their respective jobs the next day.

Unfortunately, neither of them made it to work.  Resident Evil went untested, while a few dead guys went un-photographed.

When someone as important as a video game beta tester disappears, it’s up to the skilled professionals of America to find out what happened.  It’s up to detectives Gus McPherson and Victoria McPherson, the stars of Still Life. 

Still Life is about homicide investigations of the past and present.  There’s a dark secret relating to these homicides that’s just waiting to be uncovered.  Can you figure it out?

Writer and Lead Game Designer Mathieu Larivière provides GameZone Online with more clues, more gameplay details, and exclusive screens of Dreamcatcher’s detective adventure. 

Other than the knowledge I've gained from watching crime shows, I know absolutely nothing about investigating a homicide.  Walk us through this process in Still Life.

Mathieu Larivière: Still Life is not a CSI clone, where Victoria has to collect evidence throughout the entire game (it happens only once). We don't expect our players to be homicide detectives. However, certain techniques are unavoidable when presenting a game with this subject matter. To teach forensic science is not the goal of the game. Its goal is to tell a story.

What types of forensic devices and techniques are available?

ML: Finger print dust and lifting tape, luminol spray, tweezers, black lights, forensic swabs, and a camera. 

Still Life may be a dark game, but its lighting definitely catches your attention.

Still Life involves two timelines: modern day Chicago and late 1920s Prague.  Do players jump back and forth between these dates?  Or do you investigate both murder cases in the present time?

ML: When Victoria finds her grandfather's journal and starts reading it, we are transported to Prague of the late 20s. Then we start playing Gus. There are a number of chapters in the game, moving between the different time periods (2004 Chicago and 1929 Prague). Cinematic cut scenes create the bridge between the two time periods. The game is linear though. The player cannot switch from one period to the other whenever he or she wants to. The switches are predetermined.

How much research was done before or during the development of Still Life?  Did you research homicides of the past and present to compare the differences in the way that murders are committed?

ML: An enormous amount of time was spent researching the subject (to almost costing my sanity). Actually it was the hardest thing in all the game's development for me personally, for obvious reasons. It's not exactly what I call a "fun read." However there are very interesting books to read about MO, anything that John Douglas wrote, but more specifically The Anatomy of Motive. His books are an absolute must if you ever create a murderer as a character.

What is the significance in having two playable characters, Gus McPherson and Victoria McPherson?  Do they offer a different gameplay perspective or a unique path in the story?

ML: People at marketing will say that it's good to have both sexes so that it will appeal to more people. I just think it’s fun to have different perspectives. The time difference makes it so that Gus and Vic have totally different approaches to investigate crimes – Vic who relies on modern techniques, and Gus who relies on gut instinct. 

Haunting mansions Batman!

Was the story contrived by the developers, or did you have a writer come in and handle that portion of the game?

ML: I doubled as lead game designer and writer. I locked myself in an office for six weeks and wrote all the dialogue.

Is Still Life intended to be linear or non-linear?  Do all of the objectives have to be completed in a certain order?  Will your decisions change the course of the game?

ML: The game is linear. You have to accomplish certain things before you can switch to Prague of the late 20s and vice versa. As an example, Victoria starts to read Gus's journal. You now play Gus in Prague. Gus interviews people and comes across info about a surviving victim. You gather clues that will lead you to this person. When you are just about to talk to her Victoria's cell phone rings. You are now back in Chicago. Now Victoria has to accomplish certain amount of tasks before she can go back to her reading. After all, she has her own case to worry about. Each transition from one period to the other is linked with a cinematic. In a nutshell, that's how the game's narration is constructed.

Can you tell us anything else about the story?  Any hints regarding the connection between the Chicago case and the Prague murders?

ML: Honestly, not really. If I did it would spoil things for players. However I've read some of the comments in forums here and there and I can assure that it has nothing to do with the super natural or a Jack the Ripper wannabe.  

This is eerily reminiscent of a scene from The Matrix.

Puzzles are an important part of any adventure game.  Describe the puzzles in Still Life and tell us how they relate to the story.

ML: I can describe one of them to give you a good example of what the rest might be like. Victoria has to get to the FBI's file archive. Problem is that a field of lasers guards the door that leads to the archives room. Victoria (the player) uses a remote controlled bomb squad robot to navigate through the maze of lasers. The goal is to get to the laser control panel and deactivate the lasers so Vic can walk through to the door. That's one example of how the puzzles in Still Life are related to the story or context.

Are all of the environments in the game pre-rendered?  Are any of them animated?

ML: In most of our pre-rendered shots there is something moving around besides the 3D character. In Prague, for instance, the Vltava is very present so animating the water was a must not to mention the fog and sky. In Chicago, there is the snowfall, rats, Christmas lights and other stuff that move around. There is life in this pre-rendered game.

The item combination system – is this used to combine healing herbs/solutions?  Does it have any other uses?

ML: We don't have brain-eating zombies in the game so there is no need for combining herbs to heal Vic or Gus. It's mainly used to combine objects together. You can also observe items to find other clues. 

Looks like a parking garage.  That can’t be a good sign.

Still Life is going online before the game's release with Web-based mysteries.  Can you reveal anything about them or give us a hint as to what they'll be like?

ML: We would love to provide you [with] more information, but unfortunately at the moment our new security advisors at Lombartech have recommended we keep the secret…for a little a while longer.

Thank you for your time.